THE SCRIPT SAID RADAR SHOULD CRY… BUT THE SILENCE SPOKE LOUDER.
The sun was setting behind the Santa Monica mountains, casting a long, golden glow over the quiet patio where they sat. Gary cradled a cup of lukewarm tea,…
THE DAY SERGEANT SCHULTZ LITERALLY SAW ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ON SET
The studio lights were bright, and the audience was already leaning in, hanging on every word. It was 1971, and John Banner was sitting across from a talk…
THE DAY THE MONOCLE JOINED THE SERGEANT FOR BREAKFAST
Werner Klemperer leaned back in his chair, the stage lights reflecting off his polished shoes. He wasn’t wearing the uniform, of course, but after twenty years, people still…
HOW JOHN BANNER TRULY SAW NOTHING ON THE HOGAN’S HEROES SET
The interviewer reaches under the table and produces a heavy, dull-grey helmet with the distinct markings of a Sergeant in the Luftwaffe. John Banner’s eyes immediately widen. He…
RICHARD DAWSON AND THE CASE OF THE STUCK SCHULTZ
I remember sitting on a stage in a drafty convention hall back in the late seventies, just a few years after the show had gone into heavy syndication….
THE DAY JOHN BANNER ACCIDENTALLY ATTACKED RICHARD DAWSON WITH STRUDEL
The interviewer leans back in the plush chair, the studio lights reflecting off his glasses. He looks over at Richard Dawson, who is sitting with that effortless, cool…
THE SURGEONS WERE FIGHTING DEATH… BUT A SQUELCH DESTROYED THEM
The air in the quiet recording studio was cool, but Mike Farrell felt a familiar warmth spreading through his chest. Across from him sat a younger actor, a…
WE THOUGHT THE CAMERAS WERE OFF… BUT THE GRIEF WAS REAL
Loretta Swit sat across from Mike Farrell and Jamie Farr in a quiet corner of a Los Angeles restaurant. The light was golden, filtered through a nearby window,…
THE LAST TIME HARRY MORGAN SALUTED, NO ONE WAS WATCHING THE SCRIPT.
It was a Tuesday afternoon in the late nineties when the phone rang at Loretta Swit’s home. On the other end was a voice that sounded like gravel…
HOW JAMIE FARR NEARLY BROKE THE TOUGHEST COLONEL IN TELEVISION HISTORY
The fluorescent lights of the convention center ballroom weren’t exactly the rolling hills of Malibu, but for a second, looking at the grey-haired man in the front row…